Officials Must Press Drug Fight

January 31, 1985

THE STARTLING discovery of 15 duffel bags full of cocaine on a Palm Beach County beach underlines the reality that the war against drugs is far from over. It also supports the acknowledgment by FBI Director William Webster that more drugs are available on the street these days than in the past few years.

Despite that admission, Webster also said his agency is having great success in fighting drugs. Convictions on drug violations are increasing at a geometric rate, he said, but the battle must be considered a long-term effort.

Another comment by Webster may be more important. It goes to the core of the drug problem and it tells Americans that they must deal with the problem`s essence:

Drugs will continue coming into this country ``so long as there is a demand for them,`` Webster pointed out. ``And the American people and our leaders and our educators must address the question of why people want drugs and do something about it.``

Why do people want drugs? And what can be done to change that?

Those questions must be dealt with before there can be any long-lasting progress in the battle against drugs. No matter how many law-enforcement officers are mobilized to stop drugs from coming into this country, and no matter how many drug busts are carried out, Webster`s key questions will remain -- and so will much of the nation`s drug problem.

Webster described one approach that will help, at least a little. The FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration plan to enlist sports figures to go into schools and tell young people about the damage they do to themselves and others by using drugs.

Obviously there is much more. Why has cocaine become socially acceptable in some middle- and upper-income groups? Is the acceptability starting to wane, and if so, how can that trend be encouraged? What`s the relationship between poverty and joblessness, on one hand, and drug use?

A formidable agenda, and that`s just part of it. No one can expect to wipe out the conditions that lead some people to want drugs. But those conditions can be improved, and drug use at least reduced.

Meanwhile, it`s necessary to continue the drug battle on our national boundaries, on our streets and in other nations where illegal drugs are grown or processed and sent here. Some addictions develop simply through exposure to drugs; a reduced supply of drugs should be fought for.

So the battle must continue, against both the obvious and subtle causes of the serious drug problem that damages this nation.